5 Candidates to Replace Fred Hoiberg as Bulls Head Coach
By Vik Chokshi
Fred Hoiberg has been fired as the Chicago Bulls head coach in the middle of his fourth season with the team. This comes as somewhat of a surprise, given the fact that Hoiberg was handpicked by Gar Forman and was forced to trot out G-Leaguers due to the Bulls being decimated by injuries early in the season.
Below is a list of potential long-term head coaches for the Bulls:
Boylen, a former Spurs assistant and basketball lifer, is in his fourth season as the associate head coach for the Bulls. Boylen is a purported defensive specialist, but has had mixed results in Chicago. The Bulls have finished 14th, 15th, 24th over the past three seasons, and are currently ranked 27th defensively overall. However given the roster that Boylan and Hoiberg have been given over that stretch, the results don’t tell the entire story. The Bulls have named him head coach, with no interim tag, so he leads the list of candidates for the permanent job.
The Spurs have been a model of consistently for the last two decades, so it is only natural to try to mimic what they are doing from a coaching perspective. Of all franchises, the Bulls need stability, as John Paxson and Forman have gone through five coaches in their managerial regime.
Williams, the former Spurs’ vice president of basketball operations, is currently working with the 76ers as their top assistant. He is well-known for being a terrific players’ coach from his time heading the New Orleans Pelicans. He is a former NBA player and could be the perfect guy to mold and lead a young team into the future.
Hammon is a former WNBA player who starred for the New York Liberty. From player development to the head coach of the Spurs’ summer league team, her coaching resume is up there with every other potential candidate. She has worked closely with Coach Gregg Popovich and has been praised greatly by the Spurs organization and players. If hired, she would become the league’s first female head coach.
This may be a pipe dream of mine, but why shouldn’t Wright be on the list of candidates? He is known as a terrific communicator, and his college resume speaks for itself after winning the NCAA title in 2016 and 2018. Once you read this piece on Wright, you will fall in love with him, just like I did. The Bulls went the college route with Hoiberg, and Wright is the best college candidate waiting in the wings.
This is a long shot, but his dad, Doug Collins, is senior advisor of basketball operations for the Bulls. Chris has had success at Northwestern, and if he continues to do well, is someone to keep an eye out for when Boylen’s deal is up.
Ultimately, it will probably come down to money, as it always does with the Bulls. Boylen is signed through the 2019-20 season, paying him just under $1M annually. With the Bulls being on the hook for Hoiberg’s deal for this year and next, having Boylen at such a cheap rate is why I see him being the Bulls coach for the remainder of this season and next. Unless of course GarPax leave town first (rolling eyes .gif).